Monday, November 26, 2012

It’s
been a year since the real world and the world of legends merged, and all isnot
well.The elves (“Aes dana”) are at war with the
United States of 1899, and both in turn are threatened by a more sinister and
evil force.The latter can call upon the
undead to do its bidding, as well “turn” living creatures to the dark
side.Both types of baddies are deadly;
the only difference is that the former move slower than the latter.

Even worse than that, Bugbear the Goblin is chained upside down in
an Aes dana dungeon, and the
interrogation is about to begin.How
much use will the Four Basic Precepts of Non-Logical Thoughtbe to him now?

What’s To Like...

Noggle Stones – The Tragic Empire has the same
“flavor” is its predecessor – a YA book that is mostly a light-hearted
adventure; with some paranormal darkness mixed in for balance.As before, Wil Radciffe includes some neat
drawings for the reader's enjoyment.

Bugbear is the main protagonist, and his “Illogical Thought” precepts
will keep you chuckling.Manchester and
Maga are back; so is Riley Ratcatcher. The
Ogres play a smaller role, and there are a whole bunch of human and Aes dana characters to get to know. There’s even a way-kewl patchwork creature – part
lion, part elephant – named Tembo, who hopefully will continue to show up in
the series.And finally, if you’re a
Teddy Roosevelt fan, you’ll love this tale.

Beyond
the entertainment, the book has a serious message about prejudice – both of
species and of cosmetic appearance.The
ending is satisfying, albeit straightforward.The Ultimate Evil is not totally vanquished (indeed, it’s not even identified yet),
which points to a sequel.That’s
something to look forward to.Kewlest New Word...

Seneschal (n.) : a steward or major-domo in a
noble household; usually in charge
of domestic arrangements and the administration of servants.

Excerpts...

”Who do you serve?” he finally barked, after sifting
through his better frustrations.

“Whom,” Bugbear said.

“And this Whom, from what kingdom does he
hail?”

Bugbear sighed.“No,” he said with a shake of his head, which
flaked off a crust of raspberry tart that had lodged in his mutton chops.“Whom
is not a person.Rather it is the
correct form of the pronoun you were attempting to use.”

The guard looked to Bugbear, tilting his
head with curiosity... before suddenly catching himself as the large helmet
almost pulled him to the ground.“And
this pronoun,” the guard started, eyes narrow and hard as he attempted to
regain his dignity, “How large are his armies?”(loc. 58)

Riley frowned as he nocked his arrow on the
bowstring.“You should not have put so
much confidence in us, Turdmore,” the beast boy whispered to the goblin.“The queen has not had time to practice with
us of late.”

Tudmire smiled as he patted the boy on the
shoulder.“Don’t let those bullies
intimidate you, m’boy.Remember, what’s
bad for the goose is good for the gambler.”(loc. 1415)

Kindle Details...I bought Noggle Stones Book Two – The Tragic
Empire for $2.99 at Amazon.Noggle Stones Book One – The Goblin Apprentice, is
the same price.You really should read
them in order.

“How can you kill what is already dead?”(loc. 2250)

My
only quibble with Noggle Stones 2 is that,
at 212 pages, it was over too fast.Noggle Stones 1(reviewedhere) is listed as being 390 pages, and
that felt like the right length.Then
again, maybe if the author had pumped another 200 pages into NS-2, I’d be griping that it was too long and too
wordy.

There is a hint that Dragons may show up somewhere down the line in this
series.And who knows what other beasts
and beasties Wil Radcliffe might introduce?I find the non-stereotypical portrayal of the elves, ogres, patchworks,
and goblins to be a real treat.8 Stars.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Adam
Dalgleish missed the boat.Father
Baddeley, his boyhood curate, wrote to him asking him to come visit and give
him some "professional advice". Since Dalgleish is a detective, it could be a criminal matter.Unfortunately, Dalgleish was laid up in the hospital, and by the time he got
out and up to Toynton Grange, where the old curate lived,Father Baddeley had passed away.

No
foul play is suspected, but now it seems a suspicious amount of dying is going on there.It “feels” like murders are being committed, but where is the
evidence or the motive?

What’s To Like...

The setting is neat; Toynton Grange is kind of
a hospice for terminally-ill wheelchair-bound patients.It’s a small operation – only five patients
by the time Dalgleish gets there, plus a staff of eight or so.That makes for a nice number of suspects.And while some of the characters were more
congenial than others; there were no blatant “black hats”.So the suspect list remains sizable
throughout the book, shrinking only whenever another body is discovered.

The writing style is “flowery”, especially at the beginning.I found it distracting, although things got
better once Dalgleish started his investigation.There were also a whole bunch of descriptive
passages; which slowed things down more than they set the scene.There are clues to be found amongst the flowers and the descriptions,
but both Dalgleish and I missed them.

The ending was good – neither too obvious nor too arbitrary.It was nice to get acquainted with Dalgleish,
despite him being yet another fictional sleuth burnt out and contemplating
retiring from the force.The book is a
stand-alone, and it’s hard to say if I was missing anything by not reading the
series in order.

Mogg, his greatest and, she sometimes thought, his only
friend, had been christened Morgan Evans but preferred to use his nickname,
regarding it as more appropriate to a poet of the people’s struggle.It was not that Mogg struggled greatly
himself; indeed Ursula had never met anyone who drank and ate so resolutely at
other people’s expense.He chanted his
confused battle cries to anarchy and hatred in local pubs where his hairy and
sad-eyed followers listened in silence or spasmodically banged the table with their
beer mugs amid grunts of approval.(pg. 37 )

She wondered how she had never noticed it
before, that irritating note of unctuous reproof in his voice.She turned abruptly away.The hand, thus rejected, slipped heavily from
her shoulders.She remembered suddenly
what he reminded her of: the sugar Father Christmas on her first Christmas
tree, so desirable, so passionately desired.And you bit into nothingness; a trace of sweetness on the tongue and then
an empty cavity grained with white sand.(pg. 238)

“We all suffer from a progressive
incurable disease.We call it
life.”(pg. 51)

The
worst thing about The Black Tower was
something P.D. James probably had no control over – the back cover blurb.It gives far too much away – telling you the
number of people that are going to die, and essentially who they are.That thoroughly quashed any suspense the
story had.

Beyond that, my only quibble is the way the wheelchair-bound patients
were portrayed.I was expecting them to
be courageous, innovative, and some to be evil enough to be suspects.But instead they were mostly pitiable.

For
me, The Black Tower was an okay read,
but not a memorable one.If I find
another Dalgleish novel at the used-book store, I'll probably give the series another go.It might be that I just picked the wrong one
to start off with.7 Stars.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Roland
Singer has a rewarding job, albeit one that pays modestlyHe is a live-in tutor for 12-year-old George Urquhart,
who has been wheelchair-bound since birth.Roland and George’s relationship is more than just teacher/student; they
also have a deep and enduring friendship.

But Roland would also like to have a deep relationship with George’s
20-year-old sister, Elspeth.Indeed, he
is smitten speechless by her.Isn’t it a
pity that she is already spoken for?Ah,
but isn’t it a pity Roland and Elspeth are soul mates?

What’s To Like...

I’m
going to call The Drowning a “situational” book.

For starters, there are situational ethics.Indeed, the book’s title comes from one – in World
War 2, a captain of a sunken U-boat is clinging to life in the icy waters beside
the British destroyer that just sank his ship.Should the British sailors rescue him, or let him drown?The decision will have consequences for
generations to come.

Then there are situational religions.Richard Herley weaves a number of isms into
the story – Buddhism, Catholicism, Anglicanism, Hinduism, Jewishism, and (if you can
include it) Humanism.Remarkably, all are given equal treatment.They each serve a purpose for a given
circumstance.But none of them hold all
the answers to life.

There is also situational history, in the form of a very
close-up examination of the 1960’s Biafran crisis.Most of us remember it only as the big, bad
Nigerians starving out the poor, defenseless Igbos.While that is in fact true, Richard Herley
suggests the situation was a lot more complex than that.

Finally, there is situational love.Just because you’re soul mates, doesn’t mean
that mistakes and wrong choices can’t be made, and they too have far-reaching
and long-lasting consequences.

Kewlest New Word...

Oik (n.) : an uncouth or obnoxious person.(aren't Britishisms kewl?)

Excerpts...

Just now Bel had been showing Elspeth her new Beatles LP,
entitled, appropriately enough, Help!Elspeth had once asked her which of the
Beatles she would wed; Elspeth herself quite fancied George Harrison.“I’ll have Lennon,” Bel had said.“Or McCartney, I don’t mind which.Think of all the royalties.”(loc. 1589)

“But … what’s bad about twins?”

“Multiple births were an abomination to
pre-Christian Igbos.Only animals were
supposed to have more than one young.Twins were killed at once or left out in the forest to die, and the mother
had to go ritual cleansing.”

“But that’s just superstition.They’re beyond that now, surely?”

“We still touch wood for luck.That goes back to Viking times.”(loc. 3299)

“The wheel has many spokes, but only one hub.” (loc. 5517)

There is much more to like about The Drowning than the situationals.As usual, Richard Herley’s skill as a writer
shines through, and his descriptive passages are once again superb.I especially liked the depiction of 1960’s
Britain that starts off Part 2.He gives
nods to various other writers, including Chinua Achebe, and Ted Hughes, the poet
laureate and erstwhile spouse of Sylvia Plath.Indeed, I wonder if making one of the major characters wheel-chair bound
is a tip of the hat to Robert Heinlein.Plus,
my favorite town in England, Chertsey, makes a cameo appearance, and that
always gets a thumbs-up from me.

The book’s title and blurb are misleading.Although The
Drowning certainly does explore the consequences of the fateful decision
regarding the U-boat captain, that isn’t its main focus.This is about Roland and Elspeth, their
lifetime-spanning love, and the obstacles to it that are thrown up by the choices
each makes along the way.

This
is the sixth Richard Herley book I’ve read, and they’ve all been a treat.But The
Drowningsits a tad above the others
for two reasons.First, because the
various situational complexities are so deftly woven together that the overall
story remains coherent.I gotta think
that was not an easy thing to do.

Second, because of a superb ending that will both surprise you and leave
a lump in your throat.I don’t think any
of the other five RH books finished this strongly.9 Stars.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

2011;
398 pages. Book #39 of the DiscWorld
series.New Author? : Not by a long shot.Genre : Comedic Fantasy.Overall Rating : 8*/10.

Poor,
wretched Sam Vimes.His wife Sibyl and
Lord Vetinari have connived, and now he is forced to do that which he dreads
the most in his career - take a
vacation.So he and Sibyl and Young Sam
(who is 6 years old now) are off to their country manor for quality time and
relaxation.

Sam tries his best to be the noble lord of Ramkin Hall, and not a
policeman.He casts a blind eye at
suspicious activity as best he can.But he can’t control his nose.And when
the unmistakable stench of a major crime wafts across his path, well, what’s a
copper to do?

What’s To Like...

The theme of Snuff
is a familiar one – bigotry.But Terry
Pratchett keeps it interesting via his wit, puns, footnotes, and delightful
storytelling.Anytime the Night Watchis involved in a DiscWorld book, I’m going to
like it.Even more so when Lord Vetinari
also plays a part.But there’s more to
the cast than just a bunch of familiar characters.We are
introduced to a half-dozen new players; all of which are fascinating, and some
of which appear likely to become regulars in the series.

That being said, the mood is different here.This is as grim and gritty of a Terry
Pratchett offering as I’ve read.And
thanks to goblins taking center stage, it’s a lot stinkier too.

The book starts slow, as we travel with the Vimes family to their palatial
summer home.Sam has his usual
discomfort with the aristocracy, and for 100 pages or so, nothing much transpires.But have patience, because once the plot
unfolds, it’s fun and excitement the rest of the way.

Kewlest New Word...

Substition : something that's
real, but which people don't believe in. The opposite of 'superstition'.(a made-up word,
but way kewl)

Excerpts...

There was always paperwork.It is well known that any drive to reduce
paperwork only results in extra paperwork.

Of course, he had people to do the
paperwork, but sooner or later he had, at the very least, to sign it and, if no
way of escape presented itself, even read it.There was no getting away from it: ultimately, in all police work, there
was a definite possibility that the manure would hit the windmill.The initials of Sam Vimes were required to be
on the paper to inform the world that it was his windmill, and therefore his
manure.(pg. 5 )

Sometimes people asked Commander Vimes why
Sergeant Colon and Corporal Nobbs were still on the strength, such as it was,
of modern Ankh-Morpork City Watch, given that Nobby occasionally had to be held
upside down and shaken to reclaim small items belonging to other people, while
Fred Colon had actually cultivated the ability to walk his beat with his eyes
closed, and end up, still snoring, back at Pseudopolis Yard, sometimes with
graffiti on his breastplate.(pg.
132)

“Why the fruckle should anyone be proud of being a goblin?”(pg. 239)

It
can’t be understated – we are a long way from a Rincewind or Granny Weatherwax
tale.The crimes are heinous and even
the good guys have some cold-blooded and brutal moments.Sam is more cynical than ever, and zaniness
is rare, despite the wit being plentiful.A lot of DiscWorld devotees are going to have
trouble warming up to Snuff.

I
personally thought it was well-written despite its dark mood.This may not be vintageDiscWorld, but
neither is it some tired rehashing of past stories and characters. Terry Pratchett might being taking a literary risk with this new tone, but at least
he's not stagnating.

In
the end, it either floats your boat or it doesn’t.For me, it did.8 Stars.And if your paddleboat gets dam-slammed, you can always hope the Book #40
will see The Luggage and/or The Librarian making a smashing return. Ook.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Azad.It’s the name of an Empire on the other side
of the galaxy.Like the Romans,
they are ruthless in their conquests, and rule their lands with a heavy hand.

Azad.It’s also the name of the
national game of that empire.Think
“Warhammer”, but make it 100x larger, 100x longer, and 100x more complex.It is engrained in the national psyche, and
the winner of its periodic tournaments becomes Emperor.Azadians study and play it their entire
lives.

This year, the Azadian Empire has invited “our” world, called the
Culture, to send one player.He’ll get
creamed, of course, and even if he were to win, he’s not eligible to become
Emperor.Gurgeh is selected, and he’ll have
a scant two years to study the game as his spaceship travels across the galaxy.He’s in over his head.But there are games within games.

What’s To Like...

The
worlds are beautifully rendered, particularly the Fire Planet, where the final
act plays out.This is a stand-alone
novel, despite being part of a series.The first 120 pages are frankly a bit slow, as Banks maneuvers Gurgeh
into being selected.But if you make it
past there, the rest of the book hums along marvelously, and there are some
neat little twists that lead to a most satisfying ending.

It's fun to find oneself immersed in Azadian society. The “Culture”
ethos is equally interesting.The characters aren't exactly compelling, but they're not boring either.The Drones
are a great addition.

Hardcore gamers may be disappointed that Iain M. Banks chooses not to
explain the details of the games of Azad, but so what?This isn’t a Dungeons-&-Dragons quest;
it’s a science fiction novel.We’re following
Gurgeh, not the game he happens to be playing.

Kewlest New Word...

Snaffle (v.) : to take something
quickly for yourself, in a way that prevents someone else from having or using
it.(Britishism)

Excerpts...

This is the story of a man who went far away for a long
time, just to play a game.The man is a
game-player called “Gurgeh”.The story
starts with a battle that is not a battle, and ends with a game that is not a
game.

Me?I’ll tell you about me later.

This is how the story begins.(pg.1.Is that a great way to open a novel, or
what!?)

“But Jernow!” At-sen said, from Gurgeh’s
left.“You must have a
scar-portrait!So that we may remember
you when you have gone back to the Culture and its decadent, many-orificed
ladies!”Inclate, on his right, giggled.

“Oh yes, yes, it is!” At-sen and Inclate
laughed into their glasses.At-sen
pulled herself together, put her hand on is wrist.“Wouldn’t you like to think there was some
poor person walking around on Ea with your face on their skin?”

Although the central focus is on the game
of Azad, The Players of Gamesis really
about what happens when Imperialism and Democracy (for lack of a better term)
collide.The author gives them equal
treatment, showing the “warts” of both societies and mindsets.

He
also puts forth the question : What would happen if our world did happen to
meet up a technologically-comparable Empire hell-bent on conquering all who cross their path?Would we view them as
barbarians?What would they make of
us?If we had to go to war with them,
what approach would we use?

I enjoy Iain M. Banks’ writing style,
as well as his story-telling.The Player of
Games is a good read, and poses some interesting questions about what exactly
the term “civilized” means to us, and about us.8 Stars.Add another star if you’re reading this
series in order, cuz I think
I'm missing some of the nuances of the characters by not doing so.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Eight
tales of the paranormal.There are
ghosts, ghouls, vampires, a nasty little porcelain figurine, and a witch that
you shouldn’t cheat on.I read this during
the week leading up to Halloween, but it’s suitable for anytime you feel like
telling the Undead to “bring it on”.

What’s To Like...

Each
tale has a different motif; I like that.The editing is superb – I found only one typo in the whole book.You have eight different authors, and frankly
they’re all good writers.The literary unevenness
you find in a lot of anthologies is not present here.The eight stories are :

E

mpty Vessel(M. Edward McNally)

The Smell of Death(Tara West)

Safe(Emma Jameson)

Cupcake Goddess : Soulfully Sweet(Shea MacLeod)

May I Go Play(Heather Marie Adkins)

Blehdward, the Vampire Who Couldn’t Sparkle(P.J. Jones)

Franscesca(Alan Nayes)

Soul Eaters(R.G. Porter)

My
two favorites were “Empty Vessel” and “The Smell of Death”; mostly for their kewl
plotlines.I’m not much of a Horror
Story reader.If you are, “May I Go Play”
and “Soul Eaters” will be your cup of absinthe.“Blehdward, the Vampire Who Couldn't Sparkle” is fascinating, but too short.And how can you go wrong with something titled
“Cupcake Goddess : Soulfully Sweet”? I liked the ‘accented’
writing in “Safe” (and I rarely like accented text; it usually gets irritating
fast), and “Franscesca” is for you Gothic Romantics.

Kindle Details...

The Haunted Collection sells for $0.99 at Amazon.Most of the other anthologies published by
the Eclective are ATM free. They are always reasonably priced; and periodically
put out as freebies.

Excerpts...

To those who ask
why I done it, why Benjamin Barrow, son ofa respectable rag and bone man, took to thieving from corpses, I says, “For
the bleeding steven, hey?” and leave it at that.I don’t spill all I know to every Champagne
Charlie I meet down the pub.For one
thing, half the blokes in this world are thicker than a fresh corpse and less
diverting to talk to.For another, I’m
an educated man, and that makes all the difference.(loc.
411)

“Viola, draw near.” Branwen let the power
of a true goddess seep into her voice.

With a shiver, Viola’s ghost drew closer
into the circle of candle light.Her
passing stirred the candle flame.

“Take my hand.”

Viola gave her a look that spoke
volumes.“I’m a ghost.”

“And I’m a goddess.Take my hand.”(loc. 710)

“He was the sort of man who would chase a rolling copper piece
into a sewer.”(loc.63)

The
only author of The Eclective that I’m familiar with is M. Edward McNally, whose
fantasy series, The Norothian Cycle, I
am thoroughly enjoying.It was a treat to get
acquainted with some of the other writers in the group.

I
don’t think Anthologies ever merit a perfect rating; you will always like some
of the selections better than others, and short stories just don’t offer the
depth that full-length novels do.But The Haunted Collection is as good of collection of
tales as I’ve come across.7½ Stars.Add another star if you liked to read Tales From the Crypt as a kid.